Andrew Pike

After completing an M.A. on the history of Australian cinema at the Australian National University, Canberra, Andrew worked as a cinema manager for a number of years while he researched and co-authored (with Ross Cooper) a major book documenting Australia's film history, Australian Film 1900 - 1977, published by Oxford University Press in 1980. Andrew also researched and wrote many articles on film, published in magazines and newspapers; and made several short films.

Andrew also served for three years as Consultant to the National Library's National Film Collection, on the acquisition of films for study purposes in schools and universities. He also worked for three years as a Research Fellow in the Department of Pacific History at the A.N.U. There he co-directed an award-winning documentary, ANGELS OF WAR [1982], about the experiences of the people of Papua New Guinea in World War Two.

In 1974, he formed Ronin Films with his wife, Dr Merrilyn Pike, a specialist in China studies. The company was involved in many innovative distribution and marketing activities, especially the theatrical release of documentaries.

Andrew has a keen interest in policy issues affecting the film industry as a whole and is a frequent contributor to debates on industry issues. For example, he instigated forums on film culture at both the Sydney and Melbourne Film Festivals in the year 2000. He was also engaged as a consultant on regional cinemas by the New South Wales Film and Television Office.

Andrew is also active in promoting an expansion of audiences and a wider public appreciation of all aspects of cinema. For many years he wrote programme notes for a weekly newsletter that was emailed to over 4,500 cinema patrons in Canberra. He also makes occasional ABC radio broadcasts, and gives occasional courses on film appreciation for the adult education service at the Australian National University.

He was an advocate for the formation of a viable film and television office in the Canberra region, and was a Founding Member and Secretary of the A.C.T. Film and Television Council, Inc.

2017: appointed Director of the Canberra International Film Festival.

2009: began an on-going association with the Asia Pacific Screen Academy, initially as a Jury member in their annual Awards, and subsequently from 2010 to the present day as Chair of the MPA APSA Film Fund. This fund has achieved an unusually high success-rate among the projects it has supported financially in the Asia-Pacific region, most notably Asghar Fahardi’s Oscar-winning A SEPARATION (2011) from Iran.

2008: appointed to the Board of the newly created independent National Film and Sound Archive, and served until 2012.

2007: Awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia for his services to the film industry and the community.
Awarded on Honorary PhD by the University of Canberra.

2005: Plaque erected in the ACT Honour Walk in Canberra City, for contributions to the community.

2004: Named by the Canberra Times as one of 75 Canberra citizens who have contributed to the shape and vitality of the local community.

2003: Founding Member and Secretary of the A.C.T. Film and Television Council, Inc.

2003: Appointed by the French Government to the rank of Chevalier dans L'Ordre des Arts et Lettres for his work in the distribution and exhibition of French cinema in Australia.

2000 - 2003: Member of the Council of the National Film and Sound Archive.

1999: Founding Member of the Friends of the National Film and Sound Archive, Inc. Elected President of the Friends in 2004.

1992: Special award from the Australian Film Critics' Circle for contributions to the film industry.

1989 - 1992: Member of the Board of the Australian Film Commission.

1986: Won the Australian Film institute’s Byron Kennedy Award for contributions to the film industry.

Filmography

This documentary by Gary Kildea, director of such ethnographic film classics as TROBRIAND CRICKET and CELSO AND CORA, is an intimate "family portrait" of a charismatic musician and the community of students and colleagues around him...

Betelnut is one of the most widely used narcotics in the world. In the coastal areas of Papua New Guinea, where it is grown, it has been a socially acceptable stimulant since ancestral times, but in the central Highlands where the majority of the population live, it is a relatively recent arrival...

ANGELS OF WAR captures the experiences of villagers who lived through the Papua New Guinea campaign. Caught up in a war they could not understand or influence, they had no choice but to obey whoever held the gun...

WINNER! SPECIAL AWARD FOR BEST FILM at the 7th Ya'an Panda Natural History Documentary Film Festival in China, 2014!
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This is the extraordinary story of seven retired Chinese men and women who embark on a 3,100 kilometer cycling journey from Lanzhou, a smoggy industrial city in northwest China, across the Tibetan plateau to Everest Base Camp...

This documentary (formerly released as THE BIG GIG) explores some of the strategies involved in applying the radical philosophy developed over many years in music education by Dr Susan West of the School of Music at the Australian National University...

A melodrama by Ian Warden inspired by the battle over choosing the Site for the National Capital. Commissioned by St John’s Schoolhouse Museum Board of Management, and produced by the Queanbeyan Players...

Late in 2013 the Music Engagement Program (MEP), of the School of Music at the Australian National University, initiated a practical instrumental project in music and skill-sharing called the MEP String Project...

OFFICIAL SELECTION! 2015 BYRON BAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (March)WINNER! 2014 UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA MEDIA AWARDS in the Special Category of "Promotion of Indigenous Recognition"FINALIST! Best Documentary (History), 2014 ATOM AWARDS“Repatriation is one of the most important social issues of our times for Indigenous communities around the world...

CURRENTLY IN THE EARLY STAGES OF PRODUCTION (completion late 2017)
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